UF's Guenthner named SEC Female Swimmer of the Week

Special to The Sun

Published: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 12:12 a.m.

Fresh off her record setting performance against Auburn over the weekend, Laurabeth Guenthner has been named the Southeastern Conference Female Swimmer of the Week as announced by the league office. Freshman Logan Storie was named the SEC Male Freshman of the week for his performance against Auburn as well.

Guenthner swam her way to two first place finishes over the weekend, sweeping the 400 and 1,500-meter freestyle events. She kicked off the afternoon for the Gators by swimming away from the competition in the 1,500, finishing 18.95 seconds ahead of the rest of the field with a time of 16:40.74. Her time, a lifetime best, was the third fastest in Florida history and qualifies her for the 2008 Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska. Converted to short-course yards, her time of 16:15.72 serves as an automatic qualifying time for the NCAA Championships in the 1,650-yard free, the short course equivalent to the long course event of 1,500 meters. The converted time was also the seventh fastest time on the short-course list and is the fourth fastest time in the SEC this season.

<p>Fresh off her record setting performance against Auburn over the weekend, Laurabeth Guenthner has been named the Southeastern Conference Female Swimmer of the Week as announced by the league office. Freshman Logan Storie was named the SEC Male Freshman of the week for his performance against Auburn as well.</p><p>Guenthner swam her way to two first place finishes over the weekend, sweeping the 400 and 1,500-meter freestyle events. She kicked off the afternoon for the Gators by swimming away from the competition in the 1,500, finishing 18.95 seconds ahead of the rest of the field with a time of 16:40.74. Her time, a lifetime best, was the third fastest in Florida history and qualifies her for the 2008 Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska. Converted to short-course yards, her time of 16:15.72 serves as an automatic qualifying time for the NCAA Championships in the 1,650-yard free, the short course equivalent to the long course event of 1,500 meters. The converted time was also the seventh fastest time on the short-course list and is the fourth fastest time in the SEC this season.</p>